Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“Demi, I’m just saying,” I overhead Kingsley say. “You my girl and all, but you know he’s the reason I had to start getting my hair done across town.” She fluttered her lashes while patting her weave. “That dick was too damn good to say no to.”
I didn’t have to question if Kingsley had meant Rowdy.
“Keep it real, Kiki, and I will do the same,” Demi retorted with her back to me. “That man wanted you even less after he had you than he did before you forced yourself on him. You basically begged for the dick, and now you’re stuck in la-la land, hoping that man even remembers you.”
“At least I had the guts to go for what I wanted, unlike you, who let a White girl steal her man.”
“What does Harper being White have to do with anything, Kingsley?”
“It’s just so cliché.”
“That would be true if Roc had been mine, but he wasn’t, no more than he was Harper’s. He’s for the streets, and that’s where I left him. My worth transcended anything he could offer me, and I knew it. Can you say the same, Kingsley?”
Rather than answer her, Kingsley chose that moment to notice me. “Uh…can I help you?”
“You can’t even help yourself, so no.”
Her hackles visibly rose as she attempted to step around Demi, who promptly placed herself between us. “Excuse me, bitch?”
Ignoring her, I shifted my attention to Demi. “Look, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I just came to let you know I was leaving.”
“Leaving?” she protested. Before Demi could ask why, her gaze suddenly shifted above my head.
I smelled his cologne a heartbeat before I felt his warmth at my back. My body liked having him so close to me and shivered in pleasure.
Unfortunately, it was all witnessed by Demi, whose gaze was flitting back and forth between us before narrowing on Rowdy.
“Atlas, do you want to go? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she assured me while inching closer like she would protect me from Rowdy if need be.
It made my heart clench for two different reasons—overwhelming gratitude and fear for her safety. I knew Rowdy had no limits when pushed, and I was beginning to understand that I was one of those triggers.
It was a reality I was unused to since I hadn’t come first for anyone in a long time.
“Chill, Dem,” Rowdy told her, calmer than I expected. “No one is forcing her hand.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but I chose to let it slide. I wanted to leave with him, but I also knew I had no choice even if I didn’t.
“What’s the matter, Rowdy?” Kingsley taunted while stepping forward and making herself the center of attention. “You couldn’t find a woman your own age?”
Instead of rising to her obvious bait, I looked up at Rowdy, watching for his reaction.
He was staring at her like he smelled shit in the air.
“It’s wild that you’re pressing me like I owe you an explanation when I don’t even know you,” he flatly stated.
Kingsley’s jaw dropped as red flooded her high-yellow skin. “Oh, no, negro. Don’t pretend you got amnesia just because your little girlfriend is standing here. She don’t even look legal. I should call the police and tell them you’re dating preschoolers.”
Rowdy placed his hands on my hips as if he were about to push me out of the way, so I spun in his arms and wrapped mine around his neck. I knew what he would do to Kingsley if I let go, so I threw caution to the wind and rose onto my tiptoes, pressing my lips against his.
He didn’t kiss me back right away.
Instead, he stared at Kingsley as if he would actually murder her in a club filled with hundreds of witnesses.
I licked the seam of his lips, and my stomach tightened when his lips parted ever so slightly, granting me access a heartbeat before he took over.
With one kiss, I’d confirmed the rumors.
Panicking a little, I pulled away, and his nasty ass chased me to continue. I pressed my finger against his lips and said, “Take me home so we can finish this in your bed.”
He stared at me like he was debating taking me right here before seeing the light and pecking my lips twice. “Our bed. And that’s a fucking bet.”
We were standing in front of a hot-air balloon.
After playing hooky from work for the last two days and spending an entire day fucking, Rowdy dragged me out of bed, sore and half-alive, to this empty golf course just before sunset. He whispered to the pilot while I silently mustered the courage to tell him I wasn’t climbing in that damn thing.
But I didn’t want to fight after the peaceful day we’d had.
We didn’t just fuck.
Rowdy and I had talked about everything under the sun and had gotten to know each other in a way we hadn’t been able to before, and well, I really didn’t want to fight.